Transcript of the beginning of the meeting: 

Vladimir Putin: Mr Prime Minister, I am very pleased to meet you again today. I have the warmest memories of our delegation's last visit to Helsinki and how you arranged our trip.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of Finland's inclusion in the Russian Empire as the Grand Duchy, and it is a good occasion to admit that relations between our countries are at a very positive level. Even though there are problems stemming from the global economic downturn, life still goes on and so do our relations.

We will be happy to see you in St Petersburg, at the Timber Summit soon, and also on the occasion of opening the House of Finland in Russia.

Matti Vanhanen (as translated): Thank you Mr Prime Minister. It is good that we have a chance to discuss our upcoming meeting at the Timber Summit in St Petersburg right away. Then we will have more time later to discuss other important bilateral issues.

It is also good that we have regular telephone conversations and are able to discuss important issues in detail. Before getting down to today's business, I would like to say that I will be glad to meet you again in October, at the House of Finland opening ceremony.

I hope that both of us will be able to listen to the speeches of the biggest timber (processing) companies at the summit.

I think our October meeting will have a very packed agenda. Last time we met, we had a very productive conversation in a restricted format, and I would like to continue this tradition.